On 18/04/2012 technogeekery wrote:>M9 - if you ever do another one of these, I'd be keen. I used to go climbing>with my bike in Japan - take my camping gear & light rack, and meet other>climbers at the campsites. >>Am back in Sydney, and just bought a very lightweight tent so that I can>do this again here in Aus. Would love to do some riding / camping / easy>trad climbing around NSW (Blue Mountains, Point Perp, ACT-area granite,>open to anything a little adventurous. >>Cheers>>Alex

I normally post up invites to whatever is happening in this regard on Chockstone, as I don't mind sharing the experiences.
~> If I remember your post at the time I shall try to PM you as well...
Having said that, most of my local climbing is a bike commute +/and/or camp-out affair as well! ~> It is a great combination!!

On 18/04/2012 technogeekery wrote:>Replying to an old post - tnd, I used to belong to svdownunder forum, and>raced my SV650 for a couple of seasons with St George MC - great fun!

I lurk on that forum occasionally, plenty of good info there (and, unlike Chockstone, no aggressive opinionating). Not too many SV's racing these days, doesn't seem to be a class for them to be competitive in. Pity, they're relatively cheap to run. Mine has gold valve emulators in the forks and a Hagon rear shock and handles like a dream now.

M9,when i meet you for our may buffalo adventure i'll be arriving on my TT250.
which, neil, was rediculously loud when i bought it, the original owner had taken out the exhaust baffle. i had to make a new one. now, it may not be whisper quiet, but it merely has an 'authoratitve note', rather than a horrific blast of sonic stupidity.
i used to have a 350 sherpa, a two stroke. it was not loud. 2 stroke does not necessarily mean noisy, whoever posted that comment.
if one wants to combine bikes with rock, there will be a world class trials event at mt tarrengower.May 26-27. for those that don't know the sport, trials is not unlike bouldering on a motorcycle, happening mostly at walking pace on QUIET specialized bikes. try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3f7m45yOQw for an indoor example.

Seems like there's a few track riders out there so just re-iterating an earlier post of mine:
Blatant Spam, but hey, it's a good cause, and a club, not an individual, stands to make money. Mac Park (a race track in Mount Gambier) do track days for $105 (includes track hire and 1 event motorcyclying australia licence - $85 if you have an MA licence) on the last Saturday of every month. Check out www.macpark.org for more info. Compare this to any vicco tracks and it's a bargain (although $259 for a phillip island track day is the best $259 you will ever spend!).
Mac park is a chilled out place, riders are divided into groups depending on experiance, pace or ability, and you will get ample track time. Free/cheap (unsure) camping is also available if you come from afar. No official tuition, but plenty of friendly people to offer advice if you so wish. They also do the occasional beginer/first-time-on-a-track-day as well, which have been well received by those that attended. Might be a fair way to travel, but make a trip of it (gramps and araps en route from eastern states), and I can always show you some limestone sinkhole bouldering if you're keen...
Just putting it out there!

On 27/04/2012 rhinckle wrote:>M9,when i meet you for our may buffalo adventure i'll be arriving on my>TT250.>which, neil, was rediculously loud when i bought it, the original owner>had taken out the exhaust baffle. i had to make a new one.

That model Yamaha came out in the early 80's if I remember correctly. Though 2nd hand, have you had it long? Have you tricked it up for 'touring' / camping trips?

>now, it may not be whisper quiet, but it merely has an 'authoratitve note', rather>than a horrific blast of sonic stupidity. >i used to have a 350 sherpa, a two stroke. it was not loud.

This is a coincidence as my first motorcycle was a Bultaco 350 Sherpa T.
Hmm, reminiscence time...
They were an excellent Spanish Trial Bike in every respect except their electrics; especially when it came to starting them on a cold morning.
Once one learnt their ways you could be lucky and get it to kickstart on the first or second go, but after that you had often lost your window of opportunity, and were in for a half hour of mucking about...

They were actually 329 cc, but after a mate rode mine and pranged into a fence, catching its throttle cable and causing it to scream it's heart out (seized), I had it re-bored and it became a 'true-350 cc'. Starting it then meant turning the handlebars full lock the other way so that compression rebound of foot off the kickstarter did not break your knee on the handlebars!

A sweet looking machine with aluminium fenders and the idiosyncrasy compared to Jap bikes of the time, of the gear lever being on the right and the footbrake being on the left!
Like the vid link (below), if one had the skill (courage and sometimes strength!), to hang on, it would take you pretty much wherever you pointed it, and I had many fun weekends back in the 70's riding around headlands at Catherine Hill Bay and other inland locations on the mid north coast of NSW on it, as well as trips further afield to the southwest slopes and plains.

>2 stroke does not necessarily mean noisy, whoever posted that comment.>if one wants to combine bikes with rock, there will be a world class trials>event at mt tarrengower.May 26-27. for those that don't know the sport,>trials is not unlike bouldering on a motorcycle, happening mostly at walking>pace on QUIET specialized bikes. >try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3f7m45yOQw>for an indoor example.

I had come across that Trials Event on another Forum and was already considering going as a spectator, especially as it is rated as counting towards the World Championship points tally, and will attract top riders.

I need to do more homework re the camping options, etc, before committing to attending.

Thanks for posting of the event here rhinckle, as I thought it too 'outfield' to do so, and your post has shown me otherwise in terms of diverse interests on this site!

Side note: The Sherpa T had 5 gears. You could still idle it along in 2nd at walking pace, and 4th, 5th were it's road gears, ... though it handled like a butterfly at those modest speeds, especially on corrugated dirt roads!

tnd wrote;>That's sure a cheap track day.

>>$259 for a phillip island track day is the best $259 you will ever spend>+1. Cranked over in fourth hurtling towards the blind crest at Lukey Heights is the schizz.

For sure (though I have not done it), and ironically the complete opposite end of the biking spectrum to Trials!
~> Which reminds me, the Spanish MotoGP is on this weekend...

Post edit:
~> None of the above detracts from a good rider doing his thing however...

I got my Kawi zx10 back on Friday after 6 weeks waiting for parts. Although I still can't climb because of a bouldering fall that cost me a broken Scaphoid and bashed-up shoulder I can at least I can (slightly awkwardly) ride my baby again. Very Stoked!

The ACT has recorded its first road fatality in more than a year, after the death last night of a 23-year-old motorcyclist.
Stewart Orme, from Kaleen, died in Canberra Hospital after suffering head injuries in a fall on Tidbinbilla Road, near the Point Hut Crossing intersection late on Saturday.
According to police information supplied yesterday, he had been riding with a friend when he appeared to lose control of his Yamaha on a right-hand bend.
Police have confirmed that Mr Orme died in hospital about 7.55pm last night. The collision is being investigated.
A post on a blog last night described the man as a keen photographer with enthusiasm for the outdoors.
"The 23-year-old son of my best mate has tonight lost his life from an accident that, in a car, would barely have spilled the driver's coffee," a post on Australian Photography said.
"Witnesses say it was at generally low speed. Turning left off a country road onto another road, for reasons the police have not been able to ascertain, he has ended up going off the road and hit a pole."
"Even a helmet can't always prevent brain trauma. When they swell up, there's nowhere for swelling to go. He never regained consciousness, but his family had to watch him losing the battle for a day and a half."
The post accompanied a warning to all motorcyclists to be "really really careful", and to take "carefulness to all new heights".
"So totally devastated tonight it is beyond comprehension," the blog said.
"I watched that kid grow up, took him camping, four-wheel-driving, abseiling, and went rock-climbing with him every week for quite a while. He was even quite a budding photographer."
Friends of Mr Orme have taken to social media with their grief, mourning his death.
The last fatality on ACT's roads came in March last year, when an 18-year-old motorcyclist succumbed to injuries sustained in an Isabella Plains accident.
That death, on March 29, came at the end of a horror month for the territory which included four deaths in less than three weeks.
Motorcyclists accounted for half of the ACT's six road deaths in 2011, and one in three of the fatalities in 2010.

There is a good chance that he was one of our Chockstone Members, or at least known by some of us...

The Le Mans MotoGP is on tonight at 10pm.
~> Bugger about Casy Stoner announcing his retirement from MotoGP at the end of this season two days ago;... but I still can't get past the feeling that he is a smart lad, especially given he is head and shoulders above the pack in the current MotoGP mob at the moment.

Provided he doesn't have any mishaps during the circuit season, it should be a thriller at Phillip Island in October this year, where there is every chance of him winning another world title to his name.

Good race last night, made much more interesting by the rain. Lorenzo not quite ready to agree with that assessment that Casey Stoner is head & shoulders above everyone else at the moment... And how cool to see Valentino Rossi back in the mix and looking like his old self! Now if only they could get the Ducati working like that in the dry it will make for much more interesting racing, not just watching the "aliens" (Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa) in their normal processional.

Very interesting exclusive interview with Stoner as well before the race. When asked if he felt bad about letting down Dorna / Ezpoleta etc, he flatly stated they were partly to blame, running MotoGP as a pure business exercise, leaving no room for racing as a passion. He also gave the "fans" a serve for how they treated him when he was sick - and to be fair Stoner gets a lot of flack for being a "crybaby", for not having Rossi's personality, even for being a "crasher"! So once the passion for racing goes, it must be super hard to risk life and limb every day purely for status/monetary reward...

I think its a real pity, I love having an Australian to cheer for, and he has so much potential still, he could rack up several more championships yet. But it looks like he is really serious, and he is a very stubborn guy. Honda (and maybe Dorna) will have to come up with something very special to keep him.

It certainly was a good race, and I was impressed that Lorenzo is taking it up to him especially in such adverse racing conditions. How bad the condtions were was highlighted by Moto2 crashouts, and more so by Moto3 where only 50% of the starters finished the race!

On 21/05/2012 technogeekery wrote:>And how cool to see Valentino Rossi back in the mix and looking like his old self!

I might attend PI in October with a sign, 'Anybody but Valentino!', as disagreeing seems to be the flavour on Chocky at the moment! Heh, heh, heh.
;-)

>Very interesting exclusive interview with Stoner as well before the race.>When asked if he felt bad about letting down Dorna / Ezpoleta etc, he flatly>stated they were partly to blame, running MotoGP as a pure business exercise,>leaving no room for racing as a passion. He also gave the "fans" a serve>for how they treated him when he was sick - and to be fair Stoner gets>a lot of flack for being a "crybaby", for not having Rossi's personality,>even for being a "crasher"! So once the passion for racing goes, it must>be super hard to risk life and limb every day purely for status/monetary>reward...

I think you have summed it up well. It was certainly a candid interview.>>I think its a real pity, I love having an Australian to cheer for, and>he has so much potential still, he could rack up several more championships>yet. But it looks like he is really serious, and he is a very stubborn>guy. Honda (and maybe Dorna) will have to come up with something very>special to keep him.

I doubt they will keep him, and you are right about having an Aussie to cheer for, as I think the next ranked aussie is 16th...

On 22/05/2012 jkane wrote:>I went "billy no mates" last year. May attend again this year. Would>be good to meet up again Rod (met you at Buffalo once).>>post edit: (I will be cheering for Scott Redding, Bradley Smith and Cal>Crutchlow. Can you guess where I'm from originally?)

What? You couldn't even get 'Pat Malone' interested?
Heh, heh, heh.

Blerrie pommies. They'd take over the MotoGP if it wasn't for the Euros keeping them off Stoners back!

Yep I remember you Jim, that was a good trip where I introduced you and your mate to some piddly stuff out at the Horn, and then later the delights of Banana Blase.